The Sinn Feiners on Tuesday gratified the Irish instinct for
play-acting by holding a mock Parliament in the Dublin Mansion House. The proceedings were conducted in Irish, but for the benefit of the world and, we imagine, of most of the audience the declaration of Irish independence was also read in English. The theory of the promoters is that the Irish elec- torate at the General Election declared for an Irish Republic, and that the elected Members alone have power to make laws binding on Ireland. The Sinn Feiners ask the " free nations of the world " to acknowledge Irish independence and demand the removal of British troops. The ordinary Englishman or Scots- man will be inclined to smile at their folly and dismiss the affair as another Irish jest. But this good-humoured contempt is based on ignorance of the real dangers of the treasonable con- spiracy in which the Simi Feiners are engaged. The South and West are in a most disturbed condition. The assaults on the police are increasing. Tipperary has had to be placed under martial law because two policemen guarding a cart full of explosives were shot dead on the high road and the explosives stolen. The time has come for a drastic enforcement of the law and for the disarming of the rebels. We cannot afford to treat the Sian Feiners as harmless mountebanks.
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